“I will search for the lost and bring back the strays, I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, I will shepherd the flock with justice.” (Ezekiel 34:16)
Is there a ray of hope that peace and unity will ever reign in our troubled land?
The signs that we see are clearly heading farther from peace and unity.
As battalions of combat troops are deployed in the countryside and even in the urban areas, will the farmers’ cry for land or the workers’ clamor for just wages be justly addressed? In the current situation where the state is engaged in military solution, just peace becomes more elusive. Instead of pursuing confidence-building measures for the peace process to flourish, this country is turned into a big military garrison with the Filipino people as its enemy. And while the state unleashes thousands of truncheon-wielding policemen to quell protests, the human bodies may be battered, but cries of those who long for food, jobs, housing and other basic rights will not be mute.
We affirm that life as a gift from God is sacred. But the country’s leaders appear to be worshippers of a god of death. The country is turned into a big burial ground through the government’s all-out war declaration. Thousands of civilian lives ended up as ‘collateral damage’ in the face of large-scale military offensives. All sorts of human rights violations are inflicted on innocent civilians who are either tortured or killed on mere suspicion that they sympathize with the so-called insurgents labeled by the government as ‘enemies of the state’ or ‘terrorists.’
Military solution is being waged without addressing the root causes of the social conflicts. What have been done about the problem of poverty, landlessness and social injustice?
Elusive peace in the Land of promise
Under the pretext of crushing the Abu Sayyaf, the Arroyo government again aimed its bombs and guns at Moro territories. It is indeed a big question why the Abu Sayyaf problem always turns up even after the army has claimed that it has been wiped out. The July 2007 skirmishes yielded 27 dead bodies on the side of the government troops. Massive bombardment on government enemies displaced thousands of families in Basilan and Sulu.
Are these the fulfillment of PGMA’s promise to bring peace? Or self-serving schemes for the political survival of an illegitimate president who desperately clings to power?
Reign of Terror
Rocked by protests on massive corruption, election fraud and human rights violations, PGMA practically thrown out the meaning of human rights with the passage of the Anti- Terrorism Law. Even when this law was not yet enacted, death squads have been operating in this country targeting leaders and members of cause-oriented groups. Church people, journalists, lawyers, defenders of human rights, peace advocates, peasant organizers, labor leaders, young people and political activists were killed with impunity.
These atrocities only mirror the sufferings of Filipinos under the US-led ‘war on terror’. The unsolved political murders are tied with the ongoing war on terror. By following the pattern of this dirty war, the Arroyo administration unjustly labels government critics as enemies of the state or terrorists. But who are the real terrorists in our country?
In his paper titled “ Philippines after 9-11:Focus on Mindanao as the “Second Front” of the US’ War on Terror” Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna defined “terrorism” as modern imperialist aggression masquerading as a crusade against evil. It is the ultimate pretext for the world’s number one superpower to wage what could be the biggest and most expensive war in history to further expand its markets, pump-prime its failing capitalist economy and impose its rule over the world.
Since the Philippines is considered as a strategic outpost from which to project its military might in China and Muslim dominated regions, the US has tightened its grip in the Philippines. The US and other foreign powers are eyeing the wealth of Mindanao (oil, gold and other minerals), rich water and marine resources, the thickest forest cover and highly fertile lands. To justify all-out war and military intervention, the US and Philippine governments insist that Muslim groups have links with the Al Qaeda and the Jeemayah Islamiya. But actual operations reveal that the RP-US military exercises are not aimed at crippling the Abu Sayyaf but directed at the Moro groups fighting for self-determination.
Peace comes with justice
While the regime is launching war in all fronts, nothing has been done to declare war against those who plundered the nation’s wealth. When will justice be served on those who betrayed the Filipino people? Whatever happened to the Senate resolution that seeks to investigate the allegation that high- ranking officials had a “direct hand in feeding the soldiers to the enemies in Basilan?” Where is justice when the likes of General Jovito Palparan who was noted in the Melo and Alston reports as one of the mastermind in the spate of extra-judicial killings remain unaccountable? After the conviction of ousted president Joseph Estrada, will the Arroyo family and other plunderers account for the 728 million fertilizer scam, the $2-million Impsa power plant pay-off, the P28-billion Northrail project, the P200-million Jose Pidal bank account, the P1.3-billion Mega Pacific Comelec computerization scam, the P1.1-billion Macapagal Boulevard overpriced contract and now, the $200-million kickbacks in the ZTE broadband contract?
The challenge at hand
As Carmelites, we are deeply troubled by these acts of injustice on the human person. Instead of sitting in apathy or fear, we are called to examine these evils from the optic of the victims. What must be done?
As our Constitution notes, “We live in a world full of disquiet.” Indeed, the Philippines is facing dark days ahead. We therefore enjoin our Carmelite family and all religious to affirm the sacredness of life denounce injustice and call for end to the systematic desecration of lives, rights and dignity of our people. Believing that peace cannot flourish in a climate of state-sponsored persecution and all-around corruption, let us remain steadfast in solidarity with the people’s quest for peace that is grounded on justice.
Now that all-out militarization and political persecution are waged in the blanket of the Anti-Terrorism Law, let us continue to add our voices in defense of human rights, to pray and act together with the grieving mothers and fathers who lost their children for the continuing pursuit of just peace.
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